Project: Photo shoot with “We Are Explorers” for the Southern Downs and Granite Belt and Southern Queensland Country, November & December 2020
Sunflowers!
The most sought after selfie in our part of the world; everyone wants a picture with these bright cheerful crops, which only flower in summer on the Southern and Darling Downs.
The brief was to refresh the Southern Downs Regional Council image library with nature-based attractions, as a joint project with Southern Queensland Country Tourism. The Southern Downs and Granite Belt is a huge area of stunning countryside, stretching from Allora and Warwick in the north to Stanthorpe and Wallangarra in the south on the Qld / NSW border.
We contracted the highly-regarded adventure media company We are Explorers to come and hang out with us for a few days in the region and capture some natural footage (both photos and video) to help with our marketing. These guys know what they are doing and have paved the way for drone footage with inspiring soundtracks in various stunning parts of regional Australia, so I was so pleased that we could work with them.
One crucial element of a professional shoot is talent. Many businesses try and use people they know (friends and family) to fill in as the models and unfortunately it doesn’t always work out so well. Models are trained for this. They know how to stand in uncomfortable poses for long periods, often ignoring extreme heat or cold so that the photographer can get the shot. They also know how to “look natural” without trying too hard – in other words they aren’t self conscious. So while it might seem to be an expensive part of the creative brief, employing talent is critical if you want your brand to look professional. It also means you can depict the type of person in the photos whom the audience is most likely to engage with – using diversity and demographics to your advantage.
For this shoot we wanted two types of talent- one was a youngish couple in their 30’s who were into weekend getaways in nature. They had to hold hands walking through a vineyard, under a waterfall, eating at a restaurant looking lovingly at each other, so you can see why acting skills are important. The second audience type was families, so we had a mother and son who were from an agency but were actually a mother and son in real life (it’s helpful for authenticity when the kid looks like the parent).
So, back to the weather. November in South East Queensland is storm season and when you have a photoshoot outdoors and you’re relying on clear skies and no rain, November might not be the best month to shoot in. Ironically we had endured 3 years of horrific drought up to this point so we were relying on the fact that it actually hadn’t rained in years, for our shoot not to be rained out. Then the rain started.
Most outdoor shoots take place at dawn or dusk as this is when the light is best. Working closely with WAE to organise all the details, we had everyone arriving on time in the right clothes for the look and feel of the visuals. We also had to ensure the sunflower farmers were ok with us accessing their farms and reassuring them we would not be traipsing through their paddocks with bulky camera and drone equipment.
After one rained-out 5am start, we reconvened at dusk that day to get the sunset shots over the sunflower fields, with success. This type of reactive planning is essential on these shoots – we had to use the middle parts of the day to shoot indoors at a winery and that came with its own challenges too.
At Hidden Creek Winery in Stanthorpe we staged our “couple” having a picnic by the lake and wandering through the vines. Just as the picnic was set up more storm clouds rolled in, so we hastily relocated to the cellar door to get an interview with the winemaker Andy. Another hiccup in that the cellar door had a tin roof, so the deafening sound of rain over-rode even the best audio equipment. These were all challenges which patience and re—takes overcame eventually.
So as you can see, many best-laid plans can go astray on photo shoots. On another day we headed off to Queen Mary Falls at Main Range National Park, to get some shots and footage of our “couple” hiking and exploring the waterfalls. Luckily due to the recent rain (we were grateful at this point) there was some good water running over the falls. However once we got the drone 130 feet up for some aerial shots we came across council (ironically) doing repair work on the lookout landing, so their bright orange high-vis gear was slightly out of place in the national park. Luckily, WAE are experts at creative editing too so we were in good hands.
Sometimes though things do just go to plan. Our closing sunset shoot was at Leslie Dam and we had kids canoeing in the most serene setting. The light was perfect, the wind dropped so the drone could operate smoothly and we happened across a lovely group of teens roasting marshmallows over a fire by the water – they were happy to be included in the shoot.
Three days, plenty of schedule changes due to the weather… and the wrap was called. We were so happy with the outcome and these images and video reels will be used to promote tourism in the Southern Downs and Granite Belt Region for years to come.